Sunday, February 23, 2014

the Annual Faculty Retreat

PPBS Faculty Retreat Goal: 
To retreat from our normal duties as faculty at PPBS (and faculty family) in order to enjoy a short time of rest and fellowship together that we may better serve God together in achieving our PPBS mission.

Last weekend was the PPBS faculty retreat. We love that the PPBS leaders make this retreat a priority each year. 
It's a time to get to know each other so much better, connect on a personal level, and make wonderful memories together! English & Khmer, children & adults, we all have so much fun together! 

We chartered a bus, enjoyed snacks, visiting, & sleeping on Saturday morning.
 Wes was so excited to get another bus ride! This is him playing on his leap pad. One of the things he gets excited about when he thinks of traveling! :)

 and Briana sleeping. Our kids really are quite good travelers!

 Briana is learning to eat little treats! You know, the kind that don't require any chewing but dissolve almost instantly. She's eating some of the Graduates snacks here, and she also likes the "fluffies" from popcorn! The first time she tried it she looked at me with those big brown eyes as if to say, "oh, no! something in my mouth that shouldn't be there! Is this okay, mom? Oh...hmm...it actually tastes pretty good!" and her mouth opened again like a little birdie to eat another. haha...so cute. A great way to pass time while on the bus!
She can pick them up with her hands, but can't quite get it from the hand to the mouth yet. The snack gets lost somewhere in the hand! Love watching her learn!

Upon our arrival, we enjoyed going out for pizza together!

This is Samnug, the principal of PPBS, and his daughter & wife.


Briana makes friends wherever she goes!
This is Debra (holding Bri) and Shirley. They were both a huge help on the trip!


Wes with his balloon. He sure is growing up!

Daddy helping Wes with his balloon.
"Fix it! Fix it!"

He was excited to get on the bus again after lunch!
(not so good at lining up, though. What can I say? He was born in China! :P)

BIG NEWS:
Briana can sit up by herself!
She's been "sitting" for a little while now, but I would never dare leave her side, since you never know when she'd do a face plant. 
On this trip, she all of a sudden got the hang of it! 

I had her propped on pillows on the sofa in our hotel room, and she all of a sudden just sat up & looked at me! I was overcome by her cuteness...I had to snap a few picture! :D



and here she is on our hotel bed.
We are enjoying this brief stage where she can sit and entertain herself, without crawling and getting into everything! :)




Wes can really get Briana giggling (watching him jump up and down on the bed is one of her favorite things!), is always looking out for her (shoving strangers away from her), and is quick to find her a toy or shove a bottle or soother in her mouth whether or not she asks for it. :) I love watching them interact! It's hard to catch on film, though, since as soon as Wes sees the camera he has to try to grab it to watch what I'm recording!



Now that Briana can sit confidently on her own, she can sit in high chairs!



We love Sihanoukville! Wes now loves playing in the waves!




Dinner on the beach



The next day (Sunday), was spent hanging out with everyone on the beach! A glorious day of relaxation.
Wes is a blast to play with! This is him trying to bury himself (with a little help from mommy and a local girl)




Enjoying the view of the ocean from our lounge chairs

A yummy seafood lunch on the beach with the rest of the team!

Bri adores her daddy!

haha, some of the interesting things we see on our walk down the beach...



What fun to discover a swing! One of Wesley's favorite things these days!!




Sleeping to the sound of the waves...

An exciting game of UNO!

Wes sharing his toys. "Share Bu-ddy! Share Bu-ddy!"

Briana would sleep in my arms, but when I laid her in the hammock so she could sleep longer, she immediately woke up and started laughing! She wouldn't sleep in the hammock! Too much fun, I guess. ;)


We definitely left the retreat feeling refreshed, connected with our team, and ready to start the next term.
Thank you, PPBS, for a wonderful weekend get-away! Already looking forward to next year!


hugs from us to you!

Joe,  Nica, Wes, & Bri




Thursday, February 20, 2014

Our Happy Valentine's Day

I absolutely adore spending time with this guy. Valentine's Day is a wonderful excuse to claim some "us" time, flee routine responsibilities, and just enjoy being together! Joey finds ways to spoil me year round--he definitely doesn't isolate showing his love for me to one specific day of the year. But he claims this day, as well, to make me feel like his top and most precious priority. I love being his girl. I love that I get to show up places with him, and leave with him, catch his eye when I know he'll find something funny, feel his fingers laced through mine as we walk, talking and laughing together so easily, and being a part of his world. I am the luckiest girl! Yes, our 5th Valentine's Day together (see? we're still newly weds!) and I'm still smitten. 
I love you, Joey!


 We started out our day together by doing what I love most:
seeing Joey in his element...surrounded by our students--the reason why we do what we do. We love them so much! They have such a positive energy, passion, and contagious enthusiasm. We had a little end of term party for them to encourage them as they prepared for their exam week coming up, and give them something fun to do in the middle of their cramming. I love that I've been able to do a little bit of teaching this school year. Just 2 hrs/week, and Joe puts together my lesson plan, always giving me the fun stuff to teach, while he focuses on teaching the grammar. We have been team-teaching in this way and therefore really been able to get to know the students together, talk about their strengths/weaknesses, and tailor the lessons accordingly. Love working with Joe in this way! 

Here are a few pics from our end-of-term party: the kick-off of our Valentine's Day together! :)











 Our intermediate class
  

Our advanced class was in rare form!
 

 


After our end of term party, we slipped home to check on the kids, eat lunch together, settle them down for naps/quiet time, and then slipped away for an afternoon/evening together! The longest we've been away from the kids in, er, hmm...I can't remember! It was wonderful!
We did what we both love to do: walk, talk, and see where we end up. The result was a wonderful day of city exploration, ducking in and out of shops, and finding all kinds of cool restaurants/cafes/ice-cream shops. We ate, walked, window-shopped, repeat. x10.

Gotta watch out where we walk! Even if there are sidewalks, the motos take over the space!

 We found the stationary district! 
Love our unique city.

It's jackfruit season! Joe has really taken a liking to it's unique flavor! I'm still working on it. I saw some growing, so thought I'd snap a picture. Mango season is also here! YAY!

We discovered Toto. A beautiful little ice-cream shop (totally lacking in anything masculine, but perfect for Valentine's day!) 





the beautiful Independence Monument in the heart of the city (with a tuk tuk in front)



tacos and nachos? OH yeah!


The Starbucks of Milk Tea


 It was a beautiful day!

I also got to spend some quality time with my littlest Valentines!
We made cupcakes together (Wes likes to "dump it!" and "go stir stir!") and Briana (my little apprentice) just soaks everything in with her big brown eyes.

Of course, Wes' favorite part is the icing. We re-frosted his cupcake several times. haha
 

 Mindy and her daughter Ada a greater appreciation for my attempted layers!



A friend referred me to a restaurant supply company that also fills private orders at wholesale cost. 
GUESS WHAT I ORDERED? haha, cheese!!! Check this out! I've just gotten used to cooking without cheese, but now a whole new world opens up to me with a revived selection of recipes. For the first time in our marriage, I made lasagna! OH my goodness, it was so cheesy delicious!!

Some girls get roses & chocolate for Valentine's day. 
I got cheese. (happy sigh)
Actually, I got roses and chocolate, too! (extra happy sigh) ;)


 

Thanks for being one of those guys who's not afraid to get sappy, makes me feel like you picked me over anyone else, and is so good at making me giddy with excitement at the thought of having you as my Valentine all year long. 
Happy Valentine's Day, my love!